Re-visualising the Inglorious Dead: The Abandoned Enemy from the Great Holiday of World War One

Working from a large collection of original photographs of German soldiers taken during the First World War, this talk by Professor Mike Robinson, Professor of Cultural Heritage and Director of the Ironbridge Institute, displays the ordinariness of life within the context of war.

The images reveal unknown ‘enemy’ soldiers at leisure and play, almost as if they were on holiday. The photographs exist as orphaned souvenirs, abandoned from their owners and largely disconnected from collective memory.

This event is presented as part of Arts & Science Festival 2014, a week-long celebration of ideas, research and collaboration across campus. For details of the full programme, visit: www.birmingham.ac.uk/artsandsciencefestival.